The humble Chiavari chair is a real workhorse of the events and hospitality industry. It’s the one you see when you open the pages of almost any bridal magazine or drop onto a Pinterest or Instagram page about weddings and décor. There’s no need for wedding chair cover hire – Chiavaris sit beautifully on their own and so if you do want to accessorize them, you can simply use some coloured organza bows and sashes or even some fresh flowers, for example.
Named after the Italian city where they originated back in the 19th century, Chiavaris are the perfect piece of furniture for weddings and events. Most typically they have wooden frames which are characterized by a combination of horizontal and vertical spindles of the back, and are also stackable, making them easy to transport.
As a result, Chiavari chair hire is offered by almost every single furniture hire company in the land, and here in the UK, we’re fortunate to have lots of these companies around. The advent of the internet, of course, has made access to buying and hiring products and services easy, quick and hassle-free, whether it’s a new car, tonight’s dinner or, in this case, hiring event furniture.
According to easyEventHireUK.com, the supply of Chiavaris for hire in this country is plentiful…so how do you choose the best Chiavari chair hire company? How do you separate the wheat from the chaff? Hopefully the ten tips below will help.
Contents
- 1. Choose a company that offers choice!
- 2. Quantity & availability is important!
- 3. Quality is vital
- 4. Price is important, but not everything!
- 5. Service levels are crucial for successful events
- 6. Choose a local furniture hire company
- 7. Draw upon advice & expertise
- 8. Choose your seat pad colour
- 9. Hire well in advance
- 10. Choose a one-stop-shop solution
1. Choose a company that offers choice!
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If you’ve been doing your research on hiring furniture, then by now you will know all about the classic limewash Chiavari chair, which is the most popular of all. Not just for weddings but also for gala dinners, award ceremonies such as the Oscars, for instance, society balls and other important social occasions. Nothing surpasses this limewash option when it comes to UK event furniture rentals – it is way out there, leading the pack when it comes to popularity!
That said, other colours of Chiavaris do exist, some of which you may also want to consider for your wedding or event. Many hire companies will only stock the limewash Chiavari version. However, the best furniture hire companies will stock a variety of colours as they understand that it’s not the case that one colour fits all events. For instance, it might be that you are holding an Asian wedding and want to hire these in gold.
Alternatively, you might be organizing a modern, luxury style event for which you need to hire ghost Chiavaris instead of the limewash version. Our top tip number one, therefore, it to look for a Chiavari rentals company that is able to offer you a range of different colour options, rather than just one or two.
2. Quantity & availability is important!
Our second top tip relates to quantities, and this is certainly an important consideration when it comes to hiring Chiavari chairs. If you’re working with a smaller, regional hire company, the chances are that not only will you be limited to one or two colours, but also you’ll be limited in numbers, especially at peak times of the year such as the summer wedding season.
Unless you get in there quickly with your order, the chances are you could miss out!
Work with a Chiavari rental company that is able to provide you with the numbers you need. The last thing you need is to have a mix of colours at your wedding or event just because the company you are working with doesn’t have the required numbers of Chiavari chairs in stock.
3. Quality is vital
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So, we’ve looked at choice as well as quantities. Our third tip relates to quality. The success of your event and the impression that you make on your guests is driven by a number of different factors. OK, so the quality of your chair hire products is only a relatively small one, though should never be underestimated! It’s important to remember that due to the popularity of Chiavari chairs in the UK events and weddings sector, this means that these are out on hire on a regular basis and probably spend less time back at their depots than any other items of furniture.
It stands to reason that whilst out on site, chairs get slightly scratched and worn through normal wear and tear. Therefore, it’s important that you work with a hire company that regularly maintains its stock – a bit of TLC goes a long way in providing you with quality event furniture for your special occasion. The last thing you want is tatty-looking furniture arriving at site just a couple of hours before the start of your event – it will be too late!
4. Price is important, but not everything!
And you can’t mention quality without mentioning price in the same breath. Remember, if something is too good to be true, then it probably is! If the market price to hire a Chiavari is £3.50, then if you see it priced at £1.50 then rather than jumping for joy, this should be raising alarm bells! It might be that the chair is old and battered, or that it’s a cheap version, for instance.
In other words, the hiring company that is hiring for this price doesn’t value any of the associated services that goes alongside the chairs – it’s just trying to get rid of the chairs to you to make a quick few quid. Tip number four, therefore, is to aim to work with a hire company that offers a competitive price for a quality product. Remember, price isn’t everything!
5. Service levels are crucial for successful events
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We’ve just mentioned the fact that price isn’t everything, and there’s certainly never been a truer word spoken! A Chiavari chair is very much a commodity and can be hired almost anywhere. Therefore, hire companies will aim to compete on the complete service package which, in fairness, should be worth its weight in gold to professional event planners, especially for large events.
When hiring furniture, you want to make sure that it is going to arrive on time, in the right place and in the right number.
Likewise, after the event, many large event venues work on tight schedules and so you want to be sure that your hire company is going to arrive to pull the chairs out. In other words, a hassle-free solution. You’ll have so many things to worry about in the lead up to your busy event, and you certainly don’t want to be worrying about the delivery of your rental furniture. Tip number five, therefore, is to order from a hire company that you know is going to do what they say they are going to do.
6. Choose a local furniture hire company
In the world of equipment hire, the location of your event is critical. Why? Well, most companies will calculate the transport charges to you based on this. And it’s for obvious reasons – the further away your event venue from them, the more expensive the transport charge will be due to the fact that more fuel will be consumed, the longer it will take the driver to get there, and so on. This is just the nature of the beast.
As a result, tip number six is to work with a Chiavari chair rentals company that is able to offer you all the above but which is local to your event venue. This is always worth checking out as whilst the cost to hire per item might be competitive, you don’t want to be stung with high transport charges which may blow your budget!
7. Draw upon advice & expertise
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Access to an experienced team should never be underestimated, especially if you are new to the events business. The best furniture hire companies have experienced staff who have been there and done it all before. This is especially important if you are holding your event at an historic, iconic venue in London, for instance, where loading bays are tight and access is limited and restricted. Experience when it comes to chair hire in London counts for a lot here.
Also, if you’re holding a large scale event, many of the best hire companies in the UK can provide you with a supply and set-up service, providing you with not only the chairs but also laying them out according to a pre-determined plan for you. OK, so this is likely to incur an additional fee, but it’s certainly well worth it, saving you hassle in the lead up to your busy event! So, our tip number seven is to work with a company with a solid reputation in the market.
8. Choose your seat pad colour
As a client, you should be able to access not only a variety of Chiavari colours, but also be able to choose your seat pad or cushion colour. This enables you to match up the colour of your chairs to a certain degree with your existing event or wedding décor. Again, smaller hire companies will offer one or two seat pad colours, such as ivory and black, for instance. The best companies go one step further and recognize that they need to hire seat pads in an array of different colours including gold, burgundy, blue, green and others. Look for this range of choice when making your decision of where to hire Chiavari chairs from.
9. Hire well in advance
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This goes without saying. Due to the popularity of Chiavari chairs, especially for weddings, if you leave your booking late, the chances are that you’ll encounter disappointment. Think about it – it’s much easier to book early and then tweak numbers nearer the time than it is to leave your booking until the last minute. The best furniture hire companies could hire these out ten times over in the busy summer wedding season, so be warned!
10. Choose a one-stop-shop solution
The reason this is top tip number ten is that if you’re wanting to hire Chiavari chairs, then the chances are that you’ll also want to hire other equipment such as banqueting tables and other furniture. Work with a company that can offer everything. Why? Because the fewer companies you work with, the less your transport charges will be. Surely getting all your equipment hire from a single supplier is much more preferable (and affordable!) than sourcing it from different suppliers. Think of not just the cost, but the hassle!
So, there’s our ten tips for when you are deciding where to hire Chiavaris from. We hope that this has been a useful article for you to read, and we wish you luck in your event planning. By following these tips, hopefully it will have saved you some time, money and effort!
